Lunch-box heater.



l.. PETERSON.

LUNCH BOX HEATER.

APPLICATION FILED APRA. |917.

Patented May 2.1, i918.

n/uemoz LUTH EK PETEKSOI IIIII I0 Il.

'url/riad a, l im l l, Uu

LUNCH-BOX HEATER.

Lacasse. f

Specification of Letters Patent.

appucationmea April 4, 1917. serial No. 159,751.

To all whom t concern.'

Be it known that l, LUTHER PETERSON, a citizen of the United States,residing fat Payette, in the county of Canyon and State ol Idaho, haveinvented' certain new and useful Improvements in Lunch-Box Heaters, ofwhichthe following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings.

This invention relates to heating appliances, and particularly to meansfor heating lunch boxes and the contents thereof.

rlhe general object of the invention is to provide in combination with'a lunchbox, a heater which is preferably detachable from the lunch box,but which, when attached thereto, will keep the contents of `the lunchbox hot for a relatively long time. f

A further object is to provide a construction of this kind adapted tothe use of charcoal or like heating material.

A. further object is to provide means for locking the tray supportingthe heating ele ment, whatever it may be, in place and this lockingappliance also acting to lock the heater or heating chamber to the lunchbox. .A further object is to providea construction of this character,which is very simple in construction, may be cheaply made, and 'whichpermits the lunch box to be used separately from theheater, when ,sodesired.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure1 is an end view of my combined heater and lunch box, the heater beingpartly broken away;

lFig. 2 is a side elevation of thel lunch box, the heater being shown insection.

Referring to these drawings, 10 designates a lunch box of any suitableor ordinary form, which is made of metal, and which is illustrated asprovided with a sliding cover 11 and a handle 12, whereby it may becarried.

The bottom of the lunch box is provided with the laterally disposedguideways 16, which may be formed in any suitable manner and which aredesigned to detachably engage with the heater casing, designated 14.

rlhis heater casing is illustrated as rectangular l'1in' form and isprovided with a to 15, which is below the upper' edges of the si e andend walls. The side and end walls, at their upper edges, are formed withinwardly projecting, laterally disposed danges 13, adapted to engage inthe guideways 16,

These guideways .16 'open upon the front ofA the lunch box 10. While lhave illustrated the guideways as being on the lunch box, it is to beunderstood that these guideways might be formed upon the heater casing.and

ing material, such as charcoal, though I Wish Patented May 2l, wld,

it understood that any other desired heat- 111g element -might besubstituted Jfor the charcoal. As illustrated, this heating tray 20 isprovided at its end with theplate 21,.

which projects beyond the sides of the tray so as to close the opening19 and the side Walls of the tray are provided with perforations 22,whereby air may have access to the charcoal or other heatingelementeontained on the tray, this air entering the casing through theperforations 18. ,Preferably,

a false bottom 23 is provided within the casing upon which the tray 20rests, though any other suitable means may be provided.

for guiding the tray in place. It is obvious that the bottom of the traywith perforations, if desired.

For the purpose of holding the tray 2Q in place and also locking theeasing 14 to the lunch box, I provide a button 24, which button ispivotally mounted upon the front wall 17 of the casing and is soformed'that when the button is turned to a vertical position, asillustrated in Fig.l 1, it will overlap the plate 21 and also overlapthe front wall of' the lunch box. Under these circumstances, the traycannot be removed without turning the button, nor can the heater bedisconmay be formed nected from the lunch boX. This vis for the reasonthat the lunch box, in' order to disconnect it from the heater, must beshifted to- Ward the dotted line position in Fig. 2 and this isprevented by the button 24. It is ular material of the lunch box andheater obvious, however, that the button may be v casing, nor theparticular construction of the' means whereby the heater casing and the-lunch box are slidingly connected to .each

other. llt will be obvious that my device is very convenient,particularly for laborers and others who carry lunch to their work andwho'l naturally desire a Warm meal at lunch time. I have found inpractice that my construction will keep the contents of the lunch boxwarm for several hours and at verylittle cost. Itis, of course, obviousthat When a warm lunch is not desired,y it is only necessary todisconnect the heater casing from the lunch box.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:-

1. The combination with a lunch box, a heater casing detachablyconnected thereto, a tray slidably engaged with the heater casing andadapted lto contain a heating element, and single means for' locking thetray in placeand locking the heater casing in engagement withy.the lunchbox.

2. The combination with a lunch boxvand a heater casing having slidingengagement with one Wall of the lunch box, of a tray slidably engagedwith the heater casing and having 'an end member disposed on -theexterior of the heater casing, and' a button mounted on the end oftheheater casing and rotatable intoengagement with the lunch box and theprojecting end of the tray to ,lock them both in place.

3. A lunch box and a heater casing, one

f provided with laterally projecting flanges and the other With flangereceiving grooves whereby the lunch box and heater casing may beslidably engaged Witheach othcr,'a tray slidable into the heater casingand adapted to support a heating element, and` single means forlockingthe lunch box from disengagement from the heater casingandA locking theytray in position Within the heater casing.

4. A lunch box and a heater Casin one provided with. laterally`projecting anges and the other with flange receiving grooves wherebythe lunch box and heater casing the tray and over the front Wall of thelunch box to thereby {'jrevent` sliding movement of the lunch boxrelative to the heater casing to thereby prevent detachment of the lunchbox from the heater casing.

In testimony whereof I hereunto ailix my signature in the presence oftWo witnesses.

LUTHER PETERSON.

Witnesses:

F. H. LYON, DoRo'rHr E. PETERSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, .'D. C.

